Security and Compliance of Cognitive Radio Devices in Spectrum Sharing Networks
Abstract
Project Objective The spectrum, as a physical resource, is becoming increasingly saturated as smart connected devices are becoming ubiquitous. Recognizing the pressing need for better utilization of spectrum, FCC and NTIA have recently authorized the sharing of several restrictive bands, including those used by military radar systems. At the heart of the spectrum sharing paradigm are two enabling technologies, software defined radio (SDR) and dynamic spectrum access (DSA). DSA technology relies on every participant to follow the prescribed protocols and parameters honestly. Misbehaved secondary users could have various adverse impacts on the primary user including the military systems due to their reconfigurability. As a result, security and compliance of cognitive radio (CR) devices have been recognized as one of the most important aspects in the development of spectrum sharing technologies. This project aims to develop theory and system of network-wide radio context attestation that is capable of capturing the continuous dynamic change of radio contexts of individual devices while protecting the confidentiality of the operational parameters of those devices against untrusted network components. Project Method The proposed research activities include four main research thrusts: ¥ Context continuum in remote attestation: Current remote attestation offers a static view of system, which is insufficient in representing a dynamic radio context which is continuously changing in nature. This thrust investigates system level challenges in remote attestation. ¥ Confidentiality protection in remote attestation: Many information included in an attestation report are sensitive. The confidentiality of such information needs to be carefully protected, especially from leakage to untrusted nodes. This thrust explores the use of Intel SGX to develop hardware-assisted confidential device attestation technique. ¥ Scalability and trust composition in network-wide attestation: Comparing to traditional authentication using only cryptographic materials, remote attestation bootstraps a higher level of trust between nodes in a network setting but at a significantly higher cost. This thrust addresses network level scalability and efficiency challenges while maintaining the high level of security guarantee obtained by remote attestation. ¥ Implementation and validation: The implementation and validation of the proposed cognitive radio context attestation framework require development in both theory and system. This thrust incrementally evaluates the system at both the device level and the network level. Project Significance While this project focuses on enabling scalable network attestation of cognitive radio devices, many of the scientific questions investigated in this project have a broad impact in the area of trusted computing and embedded system. By studying the fundamental limiting factors in remote attestation, this project aims to enable a new generation of network-wide context- aware attestation with effective means to balance trust, security, energy and performance. System integrity has always been one of the most critical aspects of DoD systems. Research findings in this project can build a solid theoretical foundation for high confidence critical systems, in which the lack of integrity guarantee could result in loss of lives of millions of warfighters and civilians. Many recent academic and industrial efforts leverage trusted computing technology to protect the confidentiality and integrity of user and system. The results from this project can provide insights and guidance in both theory and system for the future development of these technologies.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jul 09, 2020
- Source ID
- W911NF2010141
Entities
People
- Wenjing Lou
Organizations
- Army Contracting Command
- United States Army
- Virginia Tech